Barack Obama returned to the Show Me State Saturday night to deliver an inspirational political message before 20,000 supporters crammed in the Edward Jones Dome fired up and eager to receive it.
“What I like about Sen. Barack Obama is the fact that he has the vision to look at things from a different light,” said Alderwoman Marlene Davis. “He’s not talking the same jargon we’ve talked about for the last 25 to 30 years. I see a freshness that is required to move us to the next level.”
Obama was introduced by Sen. Claire McCaskill, who recently announced her decision to endorse him for the democratic nomination.
McCaskill joined Obama on stage with Rep. Lacy Clay, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, former Senator Jean Carnahan, Rep. Russ Carnahan and State Auditor Susan Montee.
It’s been almost a year since Obama announced his unlikely journey to change America.
He told the crowd that he was running for president because of what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the fierce urgency of now. He said the U.S. could not afford to wait to fix our health care system and schools, to bring good jobs to our communities, to end the war in Iraq, to stop global warming, and to curb the power of the special interests lobbyists in Washington.
“Our problem is not that we don’t know how to do it, but we don’t have a sense of urgency to do it,” Obama said and adding that caring for America’s children is a universal responsibility.
He cast his campaign as a choice between a bold new future and “the same old cast of characters.” He silenced critics who said his ideologies were naïve, and he was not ready to run for president.
“I know how hard change will be, but I also know this,” Obama said, “that nothing worth wild in this country has every happened except that somebody somewhere decided to hope.”
Obama’s 40-minute speech drove his crowd of diverse supporters to roaring cheer and applause.
“He is the man,” said Grace Enayo, who drove from Edwardsville to see Obama. “He is the man who will move America forward from economic depression, who will enrich the people, who will get me out of debt. He is a man from God.”
William Mbua, a college student in Illinois, agreed. “He’s young and here to bring change to the American people. He is the only candidate that can do that.”
Obama’s campaign is riding a wave of momentum that is expected to carry him through Super Tuesday. According to a recent Reuters/C-SPAN poll, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s double-digit lead has virtually vanished and Obama is in a dead heat with her in California, New Jersey and Missouri.
So far, Obama has the most votes, delegates and carries the most diverse coalition that this country has seen in a long time.
The crowd Obama drew in St. Louis on Saturday is by far the largest for any of the events held in Missouri by any presidential candidate.
